Every Criminal Returns To the Scene of the Crime - Part 1

It was a beautiful summer on Wednesday June 16th so I decided to ride out to Mount Pleasant Iowa for the World's Greatest Pizza. Back when I was going to college at Iowa Wesleyan the trip took longer because Route 34 took you through the winding roads of Burlington, and on to Middletown, Danville, New London then to Mt. P. Nowadays 34 is 4 lane for the most part all the way from Burlington to Mt. P and you pretty much scoot past those towns without ever having to stop or slow. And, yes, I got stopped by a train.

This is the old fraternity house of Phi Delta Theta. Had some pretty interesting times here from Hell Week (lower than ossified whale shit) to playing the board game Landslide almost non-stop for awhile, to the meetings in the basement and the sunning on the roof. From watching Dave Olson throw a snowball at his dad's car to late night studying for tests. Good group of men. It was a shame we had to let it go and sell it when the college administration decided to bring us all back on campus due to decreased enrollment. The fraternity was in the dorm for years, and finally last year, the chapter was decertified.

I decided to check out Treischmann Hall where the classrooms are. Summer is fun to tour because the place is virtually empty and unlocked. Three levels of hallways like this one. Haven't changed much through the years.

This was one of my classrooms with Dr. Khan. The late Dr. Khan was my Philosophy teacher and although I had many classes with him, I wasn't one of those pesky afterclass guys who took up the Professor's time with meaningless drivel. He always referred to me as the "shy boy in the back". I'd outscore the obnoxious students who talked just to hear themselves in tests and he took relish in pointing me out to the rest of the class.

This was the auditorium where the inestimable Dr. George E. LaMore taught his Theology classes. He was somewhat renowned back then for his eloquence, intelligence and he flew his own plane all over the country to give speeches and attend seminars. Brilliant man who intellectually grabbed me after taking a mandatory intro class and I switched my major from Political Science and took on both Philosophy and Theology as a double major, with History as a minor. That one class I took changed my whole life and in conjunction with Dr. Khan I took a path that surprised me but filled me with questions, and as Holly would say, "...a thirst for knowledge." Until that happened I was just going through the motions.

In fact, I had a tough time adjusting to the freedom and temptations of independence on a college campus. My first semester grades were kind of poor and my parents sent my oldest brother, Phil, out to give me a "come to Jesus" talk. I liked drinking beer and playing cards and generally having a good time and wasn't paying enough attention to classes. That little ride out in the country getting reamed did the trick, and getting into subjects that enthralled me set the tone and for the next 3 1/2 years I was a model student: eventually graduating cum laude. I learned to compartmentalize the needs for classwork and fun. Mt. Hamill, Brighton, the sororities, Hershey Hall, the library, the SAGA spaghetti nights, RSI at the Woodward State Mental Hospital, my buddies RB and Kube. Good times. Youth, passion, discovery.